Chapter 4

"Is that all you have to say…Congratulations, you're one of the one in…how many was it?" Abby practically growled, stalking around the confines of the small bedroom like a caged tiger. She glanced again at the small alarm clock on the nightstand, mentally calculating the remaining minutes until Miguel arrived home. "Yes, I understand there's no guarantee of 100% effectiveness…"

The faucet in the bathroom dripped steadily, and the breeze coming in through the cracked window made the light blue curtains flutter.

Abby paused in front of the window, lifting one curtain edge up for closer inspection. She fingered the embroidered silhouette with a half-smile on her lips, noticing for perhaps the first time, the nautical theme of the room—lighthouses, ships, and the colors of the ocean, all courtesy of Grace Bennett, no doubt. The woman's condescending voice continued to squawk at her through the receiver, and Abby moved the phone to her other ear as she dropped to the comfortable mattress in tired resignation. She twirled a heavy strand of tawny hair around her forefinger, biting her tongue to keep from screaming a litany of obscenities back at the woman. Finally, she disconnected the phone in disgust, flinging herself back against the mattress and covering her hazel eyes with her hands. "-DAMMIT!" she screamed suddenly, hurling the phone at the closed door with all her might.

"I'll not have that kind of language around my grandchildren."

Abby jerked upright in surprise, instantly regretting the motion. Her hazel eyes snapped shut, and she bowed her head, taking several deep breaths before addressing Pilar. "I'm sorry, Pilar. I…" Abby trailed off when she felt the gentle press of a cool cloth against her forehead. She took the cloth from Pilar's hands with a grateful sigh.

"It gets better. It doesn't last forever," Pilar uttered softly.

"I know," Abby muttered. "I mean…I've heard, and you know, read that it gets better. Wait a minute…How did you…Never mind. You don't have to answer that question," she said, exhaling a quick frustrated breath. She wore a wry smile on her lips when she continued. "I bought every test on the damn shelf, and I just left them lying there in the bathroom, for anyone to see." Brilliant move, Abby, her inner voice nagged. Now she undoubtedly thinks you're crazy. Just like the poor little checkout girl at the store. "I'll take care of that," Abby offered, standing up slowly and moving toward the bathroom.

"All babies are blessings, Mija. Even unplanned babies," Pilar told her with a gentle smile.

The understanding in Pilar's warm brown eyes both stunned and heartened Abby, and without even realizing her actions, she found herself seated beside Pilar once again. "As usual, my timing sucks," she muttered. "I can't be… s**t Abby exclaimed, giving Pilar an apologetic glance as soon as the word left her mouth. "Not now. Nick and I…Pilar, what am I going to do?"

Pilar folded Abby's hands in her own, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "You'll do what's right. Face this…challenge. Use that…refreshing honesty of yours."

One tawny brow lifted in questioning wonder, and hazel eyes sparkled, matching the amused smirk on Abby's lips. Bless the woman for not clutching her ever-present rosary and reciting a prayer for her sinful ways. Abby knew her sailor's tongue already kept Pilar's panties in a constant uncomfortable twist. Surely, the irrefutable evidence that she'd enjoyed premarital sex many more times than once was going to send her straight to Hell in the older woman's eyes. Yet, Pilar was doing her best to speak supportively. "Refreshing?" Abby scoffed. "Pilar, I think the word you're searching for is something more like…brutal, startling, embarrassing," Abby grinned. "I've made you blush more times than I can count. And this is more than a challenge. I've got way too many screws loose to be a mother. Forget being a good one."

An answering smile threatened to dispel Pilar's normally solemn demeanor, and the older woman gave Abby's arm a motherly pat before standing up. "Children have a way of changing a person," Pilar stated, brown eyes starting to twinkle suspiciously. "And Dr. Taylor can only be a GOOD influence."

"So basically what you're saying, no insinuating," Abby paused, shocked laughter bubbling up from deep within her, "is that I AM a raving lunatic, and I can't do this without Nick." The prospect of telling Nick was a very sobering one, and Abby fell quiet for several seconds. "I don't know how to tell him."

A car door slammed outside, and MJ announced his arrival a moment later. "Abby! Is my uniform ready?"

"It's on your bed!" Abby yelled in response, rising from the bed and joining Pilar at the door. "I better go make sure he eats something before the game. Preferably something I can stomach the smell of. IF such a thing exists anymore," she muttered, brushing past Pilar.

"Abby…"

"Yeah?" Abby asked, turning around and holding her breath in anticipation of Pilar's next words.

"You'll figure it out," Pilar smiled encouragingly. "I think you'll do just fine."

"As long as I keep my big mouth shut," Abby tossed back. "I think I'll make a $20 donation to the jar and MJ's and Joshua's allowance funds anyway. Sort of an apology kind of thing," she explained. "Oh, and you should take a trip to confessional for lying and scaring the hell out of me." Abby groaned, giving Pilar one last sheepish look. "And I'll just add another couple dollars to that jar…"

"I can't believe there aren't better seating arrangements," Rebecca Hotchkiss grumbled disdainfully, climbing the bleachers behind Gwen and grabbing her shoulder forcefully a couple of times when her ridiculously high heels threatened to topple her over the edge.

"Mother," Gwen huffed. "It's a tee-ball game, not a black-tie dinner. You're going to break a leg in those things.

"You're the one who insisted on sitting on the top row, Gwennie," Rebecca replied, plopping gracelessly down on the bench beside her daughter. It took only a few seconds for the heat of the evening sun to work its 'magic' on her. Fanning herself vigorously with her hands, Rebecca's blue eyes narrowed in distaste as she glanced around at the growing crowd. "It's absolutely stifling out here. They should make baseball an indoor sport."

Biting her tongue, Gwen simply rolled her eyes, waving at her father when he appeared at the foot of the bleachers, Jake by his side. "Daddy! Up here," she called. "Jacob Bennett, I told you no junk from the concession stand. Since you've already eaten, you can go home with Mother and Daddy after the game."

Jake's mouth twisted into an annoyed scowl, and he reluctantly handed the nachos and hotdog in his hands to his grandfather before hopping onto the first step of the bleachers. He took up residence on the bottom seat, keeping a lookout for Ali's imminent arrival.

Jonathan Hotchkiss chuckled as he passed his grandson by, giving the strong young shoulder an affectionate pat before slyly slipping him a cheese-laden nacho.

Jake popped the nacho into his mouth with an appreciative grin and quickly began to chew, without letting his mom see. Or so he thought. Moms, he grumbled silently when he heard her voice behind him. Not only did they have eyes in the back of their heads, his mom had X-ray vision too.

"Jake…I see chewing," Gwen said.

"Chewing? What chewing?" Jake played it cool. "How can I chew if I didn't have a nacho in the first place? See?" he said, opening his mouth wide for proof.

"Jake, Little Buddy," Hank chuckled as he sidled up beside him, "you got a little cheese right there…yeah, right there on the corner of your mouth."

"Oh man," Jake muttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Dad," he whined.

"I thought I told you," Hank smirked, "a guy can never put one over on his mom. She's all-knowing." He leaned in close to whisper in his son's ear. "Dugout," he nodded. "Keep your sisters from overdosing on sugar, will ya?"

Jake eagerly scurried away, the twinkle returned to his brown eyes.

"Hank," Gwen said reproachfully as her husband advanced on her, settling down on the seat in front of her. "They'll ruin their appetites."

Hank took her chin in his hand, giving her lips a quick, loving kiss, then grinned up at her. "Yeah, Babe?"

"When did you become such a tightwad?" Gwen laughed, resting her hands on his shoulders and leaning in to bestow another kiss on his lips. "You have more layers than an onion, Bennett."

"Ah, young love," Jonathan mused, blue eyes dancing. "Your mother and I were…"

"Jonathan!" Rebecca shrieked, hands flapping excitedly in the air and lips puckered in disgust. "It's disgusting. I never would have given it to him…get it out, get it out," she demanded with a shudder.

"…never quite like that," Jonathan finished as he stood up, gallantly offering his wife his handkerchief to wipe off the excess cheese left behind by a curious toddler's foray into the unknown, Rebecca's ample bosom.

Hank howled with laughter, much to Rebecca's ire, and plucked a couple dollars out of his wallet, handing it to the mother of the now squalling toddler. "You'll have to forgive my mother-in-law. Nannies," he said, as if it explained everything, and apparently it did. "She never changed a poopy diaper. She would have considered it a traumatic experience," Hank winked.

"Why you…you, you SWINE!" Rebecca bellowed, as Gwen tried to tamp down her own threatening laughter.

The game hadn't even started yet. How in the world were they going to last through the home-stretch?

"I'm going to get every out. I'm going to throw the ball to first so hard it knocks MJ down. I'm going to hit a kazillion home-runs, and Dad's going to owe me a $100," Sara's brown eyes were round and filled with dollar signs as she chattered excitedly about her performance in the impending game.

Jake stuck another sour straw into her mouth when she finally paused to take a breath, hoping like the devil to shut her up, but it didn't work. She was making him so dizzy walking back and forth and jabbering her head off, he had to look away. He scrunched up his nose in disgust as he watched Emily group red M & M's and red Skittles together, shoveling them all into her mouth at once. Her entire mouth and chin were bright red, and the wild look in her brown eyes put Jake further in mind of a vampire he'd seen in one of those movies he'd watched even though his mom told him not to.

"Jake," Emmy said suddenly, "Do you think if I run really, really fast when I hit the ball and throw the ball to Cristian real quick, we'll get home in time to watch Spongebob?"

Keeping in mind that the wrong could, very possibly, make his little sister erupt into tears at any moment, Jake decided to play it safe. Well…sort of. "Only if you run all the way to home without stopping every time. Right, Uncle Luis?" Jake waited for Luis to agree.

Luis slid Cristian's bat bag off of his shoulder, hanging it up on the fence beside the girls' bat bags before issuing a distracted answer. "Yeah…sure. Run fast like we did in practice, Emily."

Cristian shyly nudged Emily over, taking a seat beside her.

Emily promptly thrust a package of Starburst into his hands. "Daddy bought the whole team candy!"

Jake snickered at the panicked look on Uncle Luis's face and decided to make his getaway while he still had a chance. "Uncle Luis?"

"Ali's with Sheridan," Luis knowingly answered. "They laid out a blanket by that old…shade tree," Luis trailed off, laughing when he realized Jake was long gone.

"Here, Daddy," Cristian announced as he crammed an orange and a pink Starburst into his mouth. "You can have my yellow ones."

Thanks, Hank, Luis thought sarcastically as his son dropped the candy into his palm. All the kids were going to be ricocheting off the walls of the dugout before the first inning was over. What the hell had he gotten himself into, agreeing to help Hank, of all people, coach their kids' tee-ball team? If Hank weren't his longtime buddy…

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Sheridan asked, chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip. "I know how to operate the camcorder, Gwen. You don't have to…"

"Sheridan," Gwen interrupted, muttering under her breath, "give the damn thing to me. Mother's driving me up the wall. If I have this thing in my hand, maybe she'll shut up. And I'll get some nice shots of Cristian from where I'm sitting," she added. "Please. Save your best friend's sanity."

"Anything for my best friend," Sheridan quipped, blue eyes sparkling with humor. "Speaking of best friends…" she began, touching her hand to Gwen's arm.

A few feet away, Jake and Ali stood, smiling brightly at each other.

Gwen recognized the nervous shuffle of her son's sneakered feet and had to struggle to keep a straight face. "You realize Ali turns him into a pile of mush," she commented in amusement, lifting the camcorder up.

Jake's brown eyes widened when he spotted the camera. "Mom!"

"Come on, Jake. I know you're not shy," Sheridan teased, her smile growing wider when Jake blushed a bright pink.

Ali giggled and waved at the camera.

"It's off," Gwen lied quite convincingly, lowering the camera to the level of her chest. She kept the camcorder pointed in Jake and Ali's direction, while Sheridan pretended to instruct her how to use it.

"Are you getting it?" Sheridan asked.

"Every mumble and goofy smile," Gwen told her, biting her lip to keep from laughing. "Jake's such a flirt. And Ali…Sheridan, she's working him like a pro. I've never seen anything cuter. You're going to have to make me a copy of this tape."

"I think the jig's up, Auntie Sher," Chad chuckled, making Sheridan squeal when he wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug from behind.

"Looks like he's right," Gwen sighed, turning the camera off when Jake captured Ali's small hand and tugged her out of sight. "Chad. Theresa," she greeted politely. "Sher, I'm going to go check on Daddy. Make sure he hasn't committed Mother to Shady Pines yet. I'll keep an eye out for Jake and Ali, too."

"Okay. Thanks, Gwen," Sheridan waved. She hugged Theresa quickly and tightly then held her at arm's length, mischief lighting up her blue eyes as she spoke. "Everything set for tomorrow?"

"Set and ready," Theresa bubbled. "Luis is going to be so surprised."

Ali giggled breathlessly as she and Jake slowed to a stop beside the monkey bars. "I've never run so hard in my life," she grinned at him, placing her hands on her knees and gasping for breath.

"You okay, Ali? I didn't mean to…" Jake's voice held an edge of concern. "I shouldn't have made you run, but I hate when Mom tapes me like that. It's so embarrassing."

"It's not so bad," Ali smiled softly. "My mom likes to watch videos of me when I was younger all the time. That way she doesn't feel like she missed so much."

Jake jumped up in the air, grabbing and catching hold of one of the bars. "That's not so bad," he agreed, dangling for a moment in mid-air. Grunting with the effort, he started to cross the monkey bars. His motions froze, though, when he heard the noise of gravel crunching beneath feet, announcing that he and Ali were no longer alone.

"Look at Jakey, Boys," Dylan instructed his gang of rowdy followers. "Trying to impress your girlfriend?" he taunted.

Jake hopped down from the monkey bars and fitted his hand into Ali's, tugging her with him as he headed for the slides. "Just ignore them, Ali."

Dylan stepped in front of Jake, the look in his green eyes matching the cruel smirk on his lips as he looked at Ali. "She the best you can do, Jakey? My old man has more hair than she does."

One of Jake's hands gripped Ali's tighter while the other clenched into a fist at his side.

Ali's blue eyes were wet with the sheen of tears, but she gave Dylan and the rest of the boys the biggest, brightest smile she could muster. "I'm really looking forward to coming back to school next year. Maybe we'll have P.E. together or something."

One by one the boys hung their heads in shame, and Dylan averted his green eyes from Ali's forgiving gaze in embarrassment, his bravado having vanished into thin air. "Uh…the game's about to start. My mom will kill me if I'm not there to watch Caleb play so um…Boys, let's go," he said, stumbling over the command.

Jake glared at them as they left, whirling on his heels to face Ali when they were gone. "How can you be so nice to them, Ali? They're nothing but a bunch of jerks."

"I guess," Ali said in a small voice, walking over to the row of swings and circling one before sitting down. She kicked her sandals back and forth in the sand at her feet, twirling the swing from side to side without meeting Jake's intent gaze. "Being mean back doesn't make you feel better."

Jake reached a hand out to stop the swing's motion.

Slowly, Ali raised her blue eyes to his face, her fingers going to the gold heart locket at her neck and curling it around her forefinger. Though her blue eyes still swam with tears, they clung stubbornly to her pale lashes, refusing to fall, and Ali's voice was nothing more than a whisper when she posed a question. "Will you push me, Jake?"

A lazy smile flitted across Jake's lips. "How high do you want to go?" he asked, grasping the chains in either of his hands and pulling her back slightly.

"To the moon?" Ali quirked a golden brow at him, clutching the chains tightly beneath Jake's hands. "Ja-Jake!" she squealed as Jake pulled her farther and farther back. "I didn't really mean it…I didn't…JAKE!" she cried, shrieking with giggles when he let her go.

And when Ali flashed him that magical smile of hers, her tears forgotten, Jake realized something he'd always known: Ali Lopez-Fitzgerald was the most amazing girl he'd ever met.

So...thoughts? Comments? Questions?

Feedack is loved and adored.

Hope you guys are enjoying the story.

Just a reminder: this is the latest in a line of stories that began with Unforgettable (followed by Always, which was followed by Hope, and now you have this one...Believe), so it may be a little hard to follow if you haven't read those fics, but don't let the fact that those stories are fairly long intimidate you. They're fairly easy reads (at least I think so), entertaining, if not my best. ;)

Thanks for reading!